Everlasting Love Song
by colorperfect
Summary: Jason x Ella. T to be safe. Enjoy reading!
1. Chapter 1

"This is not fun," Jason whined to nobody in particular, "These bags are heavy, and it's hot. I don't remember camp being this brutal."

"That's because..we're not at camp yet," Nate replied, breathing heavily as he carried a suitcase identical to the one in Jason's hands. "Besides, it's not my fault that the bags are heavy. You see, Shane here packed all of his hair products."

Nate's comment caused Shane to scoff. "Remember last summer, when you just abandoned me here? I was stuck with no hair products—and you know how much I love my styling gel."

"I think you like your styling gel a little _too_ much." Jason muttered, he lifted the bag and wondered about how many bottles of hair products Shane had actually packed.

The three band members groaned as they climbed up the two stairs, dragging their suitcases across the porch and into their cozy, wood-paneled cabin. Shane immediately let go of the handles of his luggage, went to check his hair in the bathroom mirror, and then sprinted off to go "catch up with friends."

"In other words, he's going to find Mitchie," Nate said with a smirk. He was a little amused, but a little annoyed as well. "Let's unpack so that we won't have to later," he suggested.

"Wait..." Jason said, still thinking about Shane's comment. "Mitchie is only one person, but he said he was going to catch up with his "_friends_."The word "friends" is plural. I'm confused."

Little did he know, Nate wasn't even listening. He was dumping all of their possessions into neat piles on one of the three beds. "With your help, this should be all organized and unpacked in no time...Of course, we would be finished in a snap if Shane helped, but he's just a lazy...Jason?"

Jason had left as well, Nate turned around just as the door smacked shut. He was stuck with unpacking while the other two were off having fun. Oddly, Nate didn't mind _that_ much. It was just old times. This was what it was like at camp four years ago; Shane was off flirting, Jason was off making friends, and Nate was doing all of the boring stuff.

...

Jason ran excitedly to the outdoor stage. He remembered exactly where it was, and just as he thought, everyone in camp was already there, luggage in tow, socializing. It seemed as if Nate was the only one who unpacked _before_ catching up with others.

Scanning the crowd, he saw Shane and Mitchie sitting at the side of the stage. It didn't take long for him to realize that there wasn't really anybody that he knew. He tried to see if he could recognize any of the people from when he went to camp there four years ago.

Someone tapped Jason on the back, he quickly turned, hoping it was an old friend; it wasn't.

"Hi." A group of girls said simultaneously. "Can you sign this for us?"

"Sure," he replied amiably. He reached for the pen, and carefully signed his name, trying not to seem disappointed.

Just as he turned back around, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Ella.

"Hi." She gushed. When Jason turned around, her eyes widened. "Uhm, hi!" She said, shocked to a camper that looked identical to her favorite member of Connect Three standing right in front of her, grinning. "I just saw you from the back, and, well, I just came by to say that I love your hair! I kind of wanted to ask what kind of hair product you used." Little did she know, it really was Jason standing in front of her.

Jason reached up to touch his hair, he looked back at her, studying her long dark hair, her full smile, and her searching eyes. "I'm not sure what it's called. I just take hair products from my friend."

"Oh. Well I think it looks wonderful! I'm looking for new hair products to try because I think that my hair is a little damaged—"

"I-think-you're-pretty—I mean, your hair, it looks pretty."

"Thanks!" she bubbled, "You're so nice! I like nice people.." She stopped herself. "What is wrong with you, Ella?" She thought, "I bet that he thinks you're an idiot."

"I like nice people too," Jason replied, completely understanding what she meant.

He glanced down and saw the two duffel bags that she was carrying. They were purple, and covered in sequins. By her feet, there were four more pieces of purple-sequined luggage. He raised one eyebrow, "Wow," he thought, "She has more stuff than Shane." He didn't think negatively of it, though. He was simply amazed. "Let me help with your bags."

"I know that you probably think I have a lot of stuff," she said sheepishly. She gratefully handed over the two bags in her hands, and picked up another two by her feet. "My parents travel the world, and they buy me a lot of presents."

"It's like you read my mind," he replied happily.

"Oh my god," she said, "maybe I can read minds? Like, sometimes?"

Jason nodded, "Yeah, me too! But my friend, he thinks that I'm just being childish." He was talking about Nate.

"My friends think so too." Ella agreed. She was impressed by how much the two had in common. She laughed, "Okay, luckily for both of us; my cabin's right there!" She pointed to a cabin not to far away.

Jason squinted, "Which one?"

"Come on, let's walk together," she suggested, "Just let me ask Peggy to watch the rest of my things for a minute." Ella quickly rushed off, looking back to make sure her new friend was still there.

"Peggy, Peggy, Peggy!" She called out.

"Hmm?" Peggy answered, her face brightened when she saw her best friend Ella waving in a hyped up manner.

"Can you watch my bags? I have so much to tell you later." Ella turned and ran back to Jason before Peggy even had the chance to reply.

...

"So, I'll see you tonight, then? There's supposed to be a jam or something, right?" Jason inquired. He placed her bags gently on the floor.

"Yeah," Ella replied, staring at his eyes. She was giddy, and could hardly wait for the hours to pass and the jam to start. "I don't really know what the jam is called though, there are..like..too many of them," she explained.

"I think so too," Jason said. In the back of his mind, he was wondering whether or not to ask for her phone number. He knew that he would hate himself if he didn't ask. He knew that there would be dozens of times where he would just want to call her up and talk to her. He knew that he wanted to hear her voice again. He was also pretty sure that he was beginning to like her; a lot. His thoughts were interrupted by Ella.

"Even though we just met," she started, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen, "here's my phone number." She scribbled it down, with her hands shaking. "Call me, please?" She asked and then reassured, "we can talk about _anything_."

Jason took the paper in his hands and admired her neat handwriting. She ripped another sheet of paper. "Here, write down your number." She smiled, "I already gave you mine. It's only fair that I have your's too."

He eagerly wrote down the number and handed her the paper.

The two of them said their goodbyes, and Jason began walking back to his own cabin. He continued to stare at the piece of paper as he strolled, not paying any attention to anything but the characters written in blue. Ella had written her name next to her number in cursive.

"Ella," he read aloud, thinking that her name was as terrific as her personality. "Oh man," he grunted as he entered his cabin, "I forgot to tell her what my name is."


	2. Chapter 2

Jason glanced around the cabin he was to share with his two best friends. Nate had already set up the bedsheets on the three mattresses. Stepping into the bathroom, Jason found that Nate had also organized all of Shane's hair products, as well as hung up the towels. However, where was Nate?

"Hey, you're back." Nate mumbled dryly. "I've unpacked everything. Your clothes are over there by your bed. I kind of assumed that you wanted the bed by the window, as usual." He glanced up and saw Jason pacing around with his forehead creased and his eyes staring at the ground.

"What's wrong with you, man?"

"I forgot to tell her my name! Of all of the dumb things I've ever done!"

Nate could not help but chuckle as he watched Jason hit his head on the wall.

"What the—" Shane exclaimed as he walked into the cabin. He had his arms draped protectively around Mitchie, who glanced nervously over at Jason's and then looked back at Shane.

"He forgot to tell someone his name." Nate explained.

Shane raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"It wasn't just anyone," Jason replied defensively. "She was the prettiest girl I've seen, _ever_." He threw his hands up in the hair to emphasize the last word. "Oh," he added, "she also wants to know where you buy that hair stuff that you let me borrow? She said it makes my hair look nice."

"Well," Mitchie suddenly said, cocking her head to one side and raising her eyebrows suspiciously, "do you like her for any other reason than her looks?"

"She's really easy to talk to, and she's very...peppy. She's also funny, and witty, and optimistic, and..." Jason said, going off on a tangent.

"Whoa, okay." Shane said, tired of the love-sick Jason already. "How about this," he paused and grimaced, "I...will give you a new bottle of hair product so that you can give it to her, as a present."

"Really?" Jason asked, amazed. Shane was already reluctant to share his hair products, and here he was; offering to give a way a whole bottle of it? Still, Jason thought it was a good idea—he thought it was an _excellent_ idea. In fact, in his opinion, it was the smartest idea Shane offered in _years_.

"Yeah, whatever. It's not that big of a deal." Shane lied, plastering a smile of his face. Jason had always been there for him, so he figured that he should help him out.

"But..." Jason walked back over to the wall, ready to continue hitting it against his forehead, "She doesn't know my name."

"How can she _not_ know your name?"

"Well, I didn't tell her it. Duh." Jason answered.

"Jason, Jason, Jason..." Shane said, shaking his head in disbelief. "We're _Connect 3_, for pete's sake, EVERYONE knows who we are. I bet that she already figured out that your name was Jason. I think you should be more worried about what _her_ name is."

"Uhm, I already know her name, it's Ella."

"Ella!?" Mitchie said, almost choking on the water she was drinking.

"Yeah, Ella," Jason took the ticket of paper with her name and number on it from his back pocket. Slowly, he unfolded it as the others gathered around to watch. He was careful, and treated the piece of torn paper as if it was a faceted jewel by cradling it in his hands.

"You two just met today, right? Near the main stage?" Mitchie asked. Jason nodded. "Shane," she said, "I don't think that Ella knows his name." Mitchie couldn't help but laugh. "I _just_ talked to Ella. She was gushing about this cute guy that she met, but she was complaining about forgetting to ask him what his name was."

"Really? She couldn't figure out that it was Jason? He's in a famous band, our faces are everywhere."

Mitchie shrugged. "That's the way she is. She's not dumb, or anything, she just doesn't realize some things that others...would. That is, if we're even talking about the same Ella," she concluded. All of a sudden, she had an epiphany. She took out her cell phone and grabbed the sheet of paper from Jason's hands.

Nate glanced over her shoulder. "I guess we have an answer. The numbers are exactly the same."

...

Ella sat on her bed humming to herself softly.

"You're not going to unpack?" Peggy hesitantly asked. She wasn't sure if interrupting Ella was a good idea. "Earth to Ella?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Peggy staring back at her.

"Should I ask?"

Ella smiled, "Yes, you should. And if you don't, I'll tell you anyway." Ella sighed contently and leaned back against her pillows. "I met this guy. And let's just say that...I'm in love!"

"Okay," Peggy replied. Ella always used to announce that she was in love. That was before she and her boyfriend broke up because he cheated on her. After that, Ella was pretty much crushed for weeks. She hadn't went out on a date since. She glanced over at Ella, who was happily filling in quarter-notes on empty sheet music.

"I feel so spirited today." She explained, "I'm writing a love song."

"For this guy?" Peggy asked absentmindedly.

"Yeah. It's too bad I don't know his name."

Peggy looked up, "Huh?" This was new. Every time Ella "fell in love," she was usually happily writing the name of her crush all over her music notebooks.

"I don't know his name," Ella repeated wearily. "But I have his phone number," she said, as if it made up for not knowing what to call him. This reminded her to take out the sheet of paper with his phone number and add him as a contact on her cell phone. "What should I save his number under?"

"How about Prince Charming?" Peggy joked.

Much to Peggy's surprised, Ella happily chirped, "Okay! Prince Charming it is!"

...

Tess bursted into the room. Ella and Peggy exchanged nervous glances, they hadn't talked to Tess since final jam. An awkward silence fell over the room.

"Hey guys," Tess said. Anybody could tell that she was trying her best to seem cheery.

"Hey," Ella replied. She got up and rummaged through her luggage. She pulled out one of the two dresses she packed with her. It was simple; a halter-dress made out of silk that fell just above her knee. She also pulled out a pair of gold shoes.

"The shoes don't match." Tess said. She looked at the shoes as if they were repulsive, but deep down, she really liked them. In fact, she had seen them worn by a model on a billboard and had been trying to find a pair ever since.

Ella's eyebrows wrinkled with worry. "But I really wanted to wear that dress tonight."

"You can just change the shoes," Peggy informed.

"Oh! That's great! I never thought of that." Ella said. She clapped, and went to find her leather flats.

"Why do you even want to wear a dress so badly?" Tess asked.

"She sorta has a date...to the jam."

"Oh? With who."

"She doesn't know his name."

Tess laughed out loud, waving her hand in the air. What nonsense. "I thought she was still crazy over that other guy. Trent, or whatever his name was."

Peggy sighed, "They broke up over a year ago; when she caught him cheating on her? This is the first guy she has liked since; also the first one she's trusted since. Besides, I think that she _really_ likes him. And, Trent wasn't the greatest guy. When they broke up, he told her that he thought she was talkative, stupid, and only dated her for her looks.

Tess narrowed her eyes, feeling protective of her friend, "She's not stupid."


	3. Chapter 3

Jason walked casually around his fellow camp members, who were dancing to the roaring live music.

"We have plenty of talent here tonight!" Brown yelled breathlessly into the microphone.

Even after all these years, Brown was the still the same. Jason smiled, but then craned his neck to try and find Ella. Clutched in his sweaty palms was a paper bag with a bottle of hair product; courtesy of Shane. Jason peeked down at it. He has tried to make it look like a present by tying a red ribbon around the bag and drawing deformed stars on the paper. Now that he looked at it, he couldn't help but have an urge to tear the wrapping off.

"Hey, you!" Ella hollered from a few feet away. She ran excitedly towards him and gave him a hug. They both stiffened and pulled away awkwardly. "_I just messed this up,_" Ella thought. The two of them nervously shifted in place, desperate to break the silence, Ella dared herself to look up at Jason's flushed face and say something.

"For you," Jason said, automatically bringing his arm up and offering her the hair product.

"A present!" She cried with glee. She looked at the drawn-n stars with awe and twisted the ribbon around her fingers lovingly. She opened the bag, and took out the bottle. Hair product? "_Well, I do love hair product._"

"Sorry about the stars," Jason said lamely, trying not to meet her gaze.

"I love it." She instinctively reached out and gave him another hug. The two stayed in the embrace this time. "But," Ella whispered, pulling away.

"_Oh no," _Jason panicked, he couldn't think of what he did wrong. But he must've done _something_ wrong, right? Nate had given him a long list of what-not-to-do. Perhaps he shouldn't have even taken Nate's advice? "_When was the last time Nate had a girlfriend_?"

Ella glimpsed at Jason, hoping he was alright. Jason stood there, digging his heels into the ground. His eyes were fixed on the red ribbon in her hand.

She couldn't help but giggle. He was too cute. Hopefully he wouldn't think it was creepy that she was gawking at him. "Are you planning on telling me your name anytime soon?"

"Oh," Jason said. _"Stupid Jason..."_

"Do you know Connect 3?" He asked, thinking about Shane's idea. If famous people really didn't need to be introduced, why didn't Ella know his name?

She stared at him. Although completely bewildered at his choice of words, she nodded weakly. "Didn't Shane come to camp last year?"

He took a deep breath, he could feel a hint of jealousy circulating his body. "So you're a Shane fan?" He nodded his head up and down as if he should've known.

"Nope," she replied, she cleared her throat. Where was this conversation headed.

"Nate, then? You're a Nate fan."She watched as his fist clenched closed. "_Is he jealous?"_

"If you must know, I'm a Jason fan."

He relaxed.

"Do you like me?" There he said it. It hadn't been as hard as he thought. He let out a breath of relief, but his blood ran cold when he realized that it was perfectly possible that she could say "no." One simple word could completely ruin what was left of the night—not to mention the summer.

She froze. "_Did he just ask me if..?_" His voice was soft and expectant. She could feel the future-wrinkles on her forehead as she gave him the biggest grin. "Yes, I do."

And just like that; as if the two were the stars of their own movie, they kissed under the stars.

How perfect?

"You're amazing." The words slipped from her lips.

"No, you're amazing. And to prove it to you, I'm going to play you a song."

"Right now?"

"Yes, on stage."

"How bold. No stage fright?"

"I got over it," he said beaming with pleasure the way a 6 year old would. "Besides, we play as a group. I'm guitarist."

She stared into his eyes. She should've realized that he would like music. Otherwise, why else would he go to Camp Rock? "I hate to ruin this moment, but I would _really_ like to know your name."

"JASON!" Shane hollered impatiently into the microphone from the stage. Nate scanned the crowd, and when he caught a glimpse of Jason with Ella, he smiled. It seemed as if their "little Jason" had grown up.

"Duty calls," Jason said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

She gazed intently at him as he made his way to the stage. Her mouth hung open, "_He's Jason?_"

"This one's for Ella."

...

"That was _way_ romantic." She inhaled the scent of the woods as the two of them made their way to the lake.

"Enough about me," Jason said, "although I do love to talk about me." He admitted.

She giggled.

"What about you. Anything you want to warn me about?" he joked.

"Warn you about?"

"Before I ask you to be my girlfriend." He immediately clamped his mouth shut with his right hand. "Oh no. That was supposed to be a surprise."

"It's okay," she said in a sing-song voice. "There's a lot I should probably warn you about." She chuckled.

"Seriously?"  
She shrugged. "Well," she turned to look him straight in the eyes, "I...have." She paused dramatically. "I have a deep obsession with nail polish."

"Really." Jason asked, amused. He figured out that she was just joking around. Nate would've been proud.

"It depends if you think 483 bottles of polish is a lot, actually." She sighed happily. "You see, every polish is never the same. Even if they're supposed to be. That's what I love about the colors. If I like a color enough, I'll try to never use it."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

"It's okay, I can live with that." He declared. That is, if she didn't make him sit down with her and count all them. Or talk to them. "Do you talk to them?"

"My nail polish? No."

"Okay." What a relief. "I have something to confess too. I really like birdhouses. My backyard is full of them."

He peeked over to catch the expression on her face.

She didn't seemed freaked out. Instead, she was clapping her hands together. "Birdhouses! Just thinking of them makes me happy."

"_Me too._" He smiled at Ella, who was kicking her feet in the lake.

"What else makes you happy?"

Ella looked up at the stars and laid back on the grass, thinking about the question.

"What else makes me happy?" She closed her eyes, "You."

...

"You didn't tell me you were dating Jason!" Tess exclaimed the next morning, throwing a pillow at Ella, who was still sleeping. Even if Tess changed her attitude towards people, Ella had to admit, she could still be pretty rude.

"You hit me with a pillow."

"That's because you kept trying to sleep when I was talking to you," Tess answered sweetly.

"Trying but _not succeeding_." Ella pointed out.

"Like that's really my fault. Now tell me about Jason!"

"He's divine," Ella slurred sleepily as the phone rang. She swung her hand, and luckily she grasped the phone instead of knocking it down. It was her fourth phone that year. She had vowed that she wouldn't break it, at least not until September, when school started again.

"I'll be right there." She quickly got up and gathered her toothbrush and hairbrush. Despite the fact that she was walking away, Tess was still harassing her with questions.

"Is it cool dating a _rock star_?" Tess drawled.

"I could care less if he was a rock star. If I met him while sitting on a park bench in Paris, I would feel the same."

"Oh, cut the crap."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Tess, I liked him before I even knew he was in Connect 3." With that, Ella whirled the bathroom door closed. Ouch.

...

"Hey! I didn't get lost." Ella said happily when Shane opened the cabin door.

"Nice to meet you." Shane said, "This is Nate." Not much enthusiasm.

"He's not much fun until he's had a sugar-filled breakfast." Nate explained.

"Okay," Ella chirped, not one bit affected by Shane's bad mood.

"Here's your breakfast," Jason said, handing Shane a chocolate donut. Ella watched as Shane immediately brightened and scarfed down the treat in two bites.

A knock came from the door.

"Hi Mitchie," all four of them said simultaneously.

"Is this what I think it is?" She asked.

Jason nodded with a pained look on his face.

"What?" Ella said, with a smile still plastered on her face.

"It's interrogation time!" Shane said, clapping loudly.

"Oh boy." Jason took a seat next to Ella and held her hand.

"So Ella, we've decided to get to know you better," Nate explained calmly.

"Have you ever been arrested?" Shane said. Mitchie sighed.

"No, never have. Hopefully never will."

"Okay, what are your hobbies?"

"Dude, that's such a boring question, Nate."

"Collecting nail polish. I have over 400 bottles" She glanced over at Jason and smiled.

"Are you a psycho that talks to this army of nail polish?" Shane asked.

"Shane, just shut up." Mitchie begged, laughing.

"No, I don't talk to the nail polish." Ella said, she couldn't help but let out a laugh too.

"Okay, so tell us about your family," Nate continued.

"I'm an only child. My parents travel the world." Ella answered, not entirely sure whether she should offer more information.

"How?" Shane inquired.

"By plane?" Ella said.

"Okay, she and her family are sane. Good choice, Jason."

"Well, that just about wraps this up." Nate suggested, seeing Jason's tortured expression.

"What!? I had a TON of questions prepared for this!" Shane argued.

Everyone looked over at Jason, who was pale. "Sorry about all this," He told Ella.

"You guys are so embarrassing." Jason said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't worry, I went through the same thing." Mitchie reassured Ella. "You'll grow to love Connect 3."


	4. Chapter 4

A light knock on the door caused Jason to jump. He got out of his chair and practically ran to the door. He stopped, took a deep breath, and straightened out his clothes with his hands before casually opening the door.

"You weren't there for breakfast," Ella stated. She gave a quick hug with one arm before pulling away and shoving a plate of food using the other. "I fixed up a plate for you," she chirped, as if it wasn't obvious. The plate was loaded with a bowl of cereal, and some dry toast hanging on the side.

"Thanks," Jason said merrily, he led the two of them over to the table. _"Good thing Nate cleaned up the place before he left for class. Good 'ole Nate._" Jason smiled fondly before turning his head over to Ella's direction. "_She's awesome._" He decided, fetching a spoon to finish his breakfast.

"I had no clue what type of cereal you like," She laughed. "I just scooped a bit of each into the bowl. Sorry if it's disgusting." Ella winced, then perched her head on her two hands and watched him eat.

"Huh?" Jason looked down at the bowl. "_Oh._" He laughed too, letting her know it was okay. "My favorite cereal is the one that comes in the shape of ducks? You know the colorful ones. I like the purple ones the best."

"Duck shaped. Purple ones." Ella repeated, she nodded her head. "Got it."

"Of course, Nate says that they 'all taste the same.' And that I shouldn't be consuming so many food dyes or sugar in the morning. Blah blah blah." His voice trailed off.

"That's what my nanny used to say to me." She winkled her nose. "Gosh, she wouldn't let me have _any_ fun. Thats why I used to love going to Peggy's house." She sighed, "What about you guys? I'm sure Connect 3..._connected_ long before becoming a band?"

"Oh, sure." Jason said. He dropped onto the couch with the slices of toast in hand. "We used to go over to Shane's house and pretend to play guitar with the tennis rackets."

"Do you have any pictures?" She was suddenly really interested in seeing what Jason looked like when he was younger. Jason shook his head. "_Oh really?_"

"I bet you do." Jason looked up in panic. She knew. She was giggling. "_If I didn't look completely stupid in the pictures, I would show her them._"

"You have pictures. And you won't show me. Are there any here at camp?" She persisted.

"No." He stammered. "_It's official. I am the world's worst liar._"

"Okay, fine." Ella frowned playfully, and sat down next to Jason. Silence.

Jason twisted uncomfortably. Was she staring at him? Was she mad? "_Maybe if I explain that I don't like the pictures..._" He fidgeted. "_I figure that I owe it to her._"

"Alright! I'll show you the pictures! Just stop staring at me!"

What? Ella looked up from her nails. "Jason? You really don't have to show them to me."

He softened. "But I want to." He gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll make you happy."

Aw, what a good boyfriend.

She smiled and took Jason's hand. "Lead me to them!" The whole time she was thinking about how surreal it felt to be with someone that cared so much. This was something that only happened in movies. She smiled while humming to herself as the two walked.

Jason couldn't help but notice Ella's faint singing. He smiled just as she did, and gripped her hand tighter. He hadn't been this happy since his parents surprised him by bringing him to the aquarium for his sixth birthday. "_I'll have to show her some pictures of that, too._"

"Where are these pictures?" Ella wondered out loud. She felt comfortable walking while the fresh breeze lingered and the morning sun glowered. It was a little chilly, but she felt warm since she was walking so close to Jason, not to mention holding his hand. She could hear him breathing, which made her heart skip a beat, and gave her an urge to throw her head back and start laughing.

"They're in Brown's office." Jason said, trying to remember why exactly. Perhaps it was when his family moved. It had been summertime, and his family had stashed a worn box of photo's in Brown's office; where it had claimed a corner ever since.

...

"You were one good-looking baby," Ella mused. She fingered the creased edges of the photos. "So cute that I could just kiss this photograph." She giggled and rested her head on Jason's shoulders. The two were sitting side-by-side, and he had his arms wrapped around her. He surprised her by leaning in, hesitantly at first, and then kissing her.

"Oh-h. I suppose I should go," Nate muttered as the door to Brown's office creaked.

"No, no, stay." Ella said. She smiled over at Jason.

"Are you sure?" Nate asked, pained. He was gripping the side of the door. "Brown suggested that I come over here and look at some of those pictures?"

The two scooted over inch by inch until there was a spot for Nate, who sat down uncertainly. He ran his fingers through his thick curls. "Don't tell me that she saw the picture of us. With the tennis rackets?"

"Sorry man," Jason said sheepishly. "But hey," he handed a photograph to Nate. It was the two of them at the aquarium. The picture of lopsided, which explained why Shane wasn't in the picture; he had taken it.

"Isn't this where we saw those dancing turtles?" Nate asked, getting into the spirit.

"Imagine how long it took them to learn how to dance!" Ella exclaimed.

"Totally." Jason agreed. He began to count with his fingers. "My guess would be about 6 months." He was pretty sure of his answer. He nodded his head.

"Turtles can live for over a hundred years; way over." Nate retorted.

"That's cool." Ella replied. The couple were staring into one another's eyes. Poor Nate.

The three went through another pile of photographs, they either chuckled to themselves, shared the photo with the group, or hastily shoved it away. Except for Ella, who was having a ball looking at all of them. There was Jason, at the circus. Jason, playing in his backyard. Jason and Shane, both smeared with face-paint. A school picture of Jason, where he had his hands together in front of him. He was wearing a neat collared shirt and a bright red tie. The little boy looked uncomfortable despite the fake smiled he wore on his face.

"I love this one. It makes me smile." Ella said. She hugged the picture close to her. "Let me see," Jason demanded, hoping it wasn't something embarrassing. He grasped the photo and grimaced, remembering the day in which he took the picture. His mother had fussed over him the whole morning, and his father had taught him how to tie his tie. Of course, Jason had messed up beyond belief, and his father had to do it for him.

"It is _too_ possible to get both hands stuck while tying the tie!" Jason suddenly yelled, at no one in particular. Nate rolled his eyes. He then silently hoped that his school photo was somewhere tucked away in his mother's purse or something.

"This picture is lovely, too." Ella breathed. She assumed that it was a family. The mother figure was beaming, and dressed in a white dress with stylish blue stripes on it. She was holding a cute baby, who was peacefully sleeping in a blanket rimmed with lace. The father figure was donned in a strikingly bright white suit, also beaming. He looked at the camera haughtily and smiled. The boy had mischief written all across his face. Ella squinted, realizing it was Jason who was dressed as a sailor.

Jason looked down at the picture. His seemed to fill up with a touch of sorrow.

"This was before the divorce, huh?" Nate said quietly, not exactly sure if they should leave Jason alone.

Jason nodded. "After that, my dad moved to some state in the north." Ella nodded, listening. "I don't remember the name. I visited him a couple of times." Jason shrugged, sorry that he didn't have much information to offer. "But it was such a hassle that we never really saw each other again." His voice trailed off and his heart felt heavy as he said the last words.

Nate stared at the ground.

Ella interlaced her fingers with his. "Even if you don't see him, he probably sees you all the time, on television, on magazine covers. And I bet..." She asserted. "I bet that he's proud of you, or sorry he can't see you more often. He probably thinks to himself, 'My has my boy grown!' or 'That's my son!'" Ella stated, mimicking a low-pitched, husky-sounding voice.

Jason chuckled and looked back at Ella, who was gazing at him expectantly, her eyes shining and her eye-brows raised. "My dad _did _kind of sound like that." To this, Ella giggled. Even Nate chuckled a bit.

"How do you know exactly what to say?" Nate mumbled in a low voice, glad the awkward silence was over at last.

Ella shrugged, getting up and taking a seat on Brown's large, vivid leather chair. Spinning around, she called out, "Whoo! Do you think he'll mind if we turn on the radio?" The other two did not protest, but just sat there lazily on the ground. Taking this as a 'yes,' Ella pushed her manicured nail onto the power button of Brown's slick, high-tech stereo. She then slipped off the chair and slunk down between her boyfriend and Nate.

An up tempo carol with sleigh bells in the background began to flood the room from the speakers. "I wonder why a radio station would play a Christmas carol in the middle of the summer."

"Oh Nate," Jason said, shaking his head and throwing his hands in the air, "Who cares!?" Ella nodded.

"This would be the perfect time to look at these," She agreed, placing a stack of pictures related to snow in front of them. The pile was so thick that it began to lean and eventually spilled over. "Look at you guys sledding! I bet you that all of your girl-neighbors are sorry they didn't talk to you _now._" She motioned at their faces and smiled. "You guys are so hot. Especially you, Jason," She threw in casually.

Nate blushed, but rolled his eyes, pretending not to be flattered. Jason just smiled.

"Hey! I had a great time building that snowman." Nate recalled, shoving the picture under their noses. He pointed at the eight-year-old Nate, standing beside the life-size snowman and waving to the camera with his small hands enveloped in gloves. "And that's Shane's snowman. I don't know what the heck you were trying to build, Jason."

She took the photo into her own hands to study. Wishing she had lived in their neighborhood, she ran her hand over Jason's snow sculpture. "It's a duck, silly." She looked over at Jason, waiting for him to confirm that he was correct.

"Finally! Someone figured it out without me having to tell them!" Jason hooted. He smiled over at his girlfriend, "This is definitely a sign; we're soul mates!" He dramatically waved his hand in the air before giving her a light kiss on the cheek.

"Seriously? It's a duck?" Nate asked, distracted. He took the photo back to examine it. Sure, Jason had told him that it was supposed to be a duck all those years ago, but never had a second human being actually agreed that it _was indeed_ a duck. "Wow. Jason, you finally have a supporter."

"What would I do without her?" Jason agreed, stroking Ella's hair.

Ella sighed with bliss, and took the photograph. She put it in a distinct pile.

"What are you doing with those?" Questioned Jason.

"These are my favorite," She explained. "I want to take them with me."

"Take them with you?"

"Yes, so I'll always have a piece of you with me."

**AN: This chapter is a bit random, sorry. Please review! Reviews motivate me. (:**


	5. Chapter 5

"I wish I could take you on a real date," Jason mumbled longingly.

Ella looked and gave him an absentminded smile; she hadn't really heard what he said. "I'm sorry, what?" She laughed and looked sheepishly at the ground.

"It be great," He continued, swinging their interlocked hands, "We could go to a movie...or a restaurant. Outside of camp grounds?"

Covering her forehead from the sun's rays with one hand, Ella tightened her grip on Jason. It was scorching hot outside; weather reports confirmed that temperatures could raise over 100 degrees by the afternoon. Still, she barely noticed. She was much too excited by Jason's presence.

"Too bad Brown doesn't let anyone off camp grounds, huh?" She said.

"Except for special medical purposes and stuff."

Ella's smile faltered for a second. "Oh well, as long as we're together." She sighed and took a deep breath. She frowned when she realized how corny she sounded.

"This seems like a good spot." Jason mused. He set down a picnic basket. Ella raised one eyebrow. "_Wow. I didn't even realize that he had that with him._" Laughing to herself, she let go of Jason and took a seat on the warm grass; still damp with morning dew. "This spot is incredible," she agreed.

"The new lady that works in the kitchen is amazingly nice." Jason said. "She actually agreed to fix up two plates of food for this picnic. And, I asked her for a cookie, and like, she gave me two."

Ella moved closer to him. "You know, she's Mitchie's mom."

"Really. She has a cool mom, then." Jason opened the picnic basket and unearthed two plates of food. "It's nothing special," he said before digging in. The two sat in silence, content with the food, and the atmosphere.

"Oh wait! I forgot." Ella jumped at Jason's sudden outburst. He got up, placed his empty plate in the picnic basket and dug out a light blue blanket. Letting it unfold with help from the wind, he tried his best to smooth it out. She gently took a seat on the picnic blanket, slipped her plate into the basket, and leaned back so that she was sprawled across the blanket.

The grass rustled underneath the blanket as Jason did the same. Closing her eyes, Ella yawned. "I only have half an hour until class, Jason." She sighed, "I wish I could take a nap." A shrill wind blew past the couple. Ella sat up, dedicated to keep herself awake. One look at Jason's gorgeous face helped, of course.

"Lets talk about you." Jason said.

Ella hesitated. "You sure?" She lightly bit her lip, waiting for an answer. Remembering her ex-boyfriend's rant about how talkative she was, she hesitated.

"Why not?" He questioned, sitting up. He took both of her hands in his. "Talking is fun," he chirped.

"Okay." For once, Ella was speechless. "_This is Jason_" Suddenly, she felt a lot more confident. Leaning closer to him, she began. "Well, alright then!"

"Well, Jason, I've got this _amazing_ boyfriend," she started, looking at him as he smiled.

"Wait—you do mean me, right?" He raised on eyebrow, but relaxed.

"Yes," she confirmed. "And my best friends: Peggy, Mitchie, and Tess. Except Tess sometimes should like..not..talk. Not that she talks a lot. It's just sometimes the things she says..."

Chuckling, he knew for a fact that a large population of the camp disliked Tess.

"Err Ella," Jason said.

She stopped talking, and looked over at him. "You see, I told you that you would get tired of my voice," she teased. But she smiled.

" Oh no!" Jason desperately cried. "It's just that.. Well, would you look at that?" He pointed towards the gate. On the inside of gate was camp grounds. Everything outside, wasn't.

Ella looked over, only seeing a semi-large hole in the gate. "You want us to escape?" She gasped, thinking about the plan in her mind.

"No...Look! It's ICE CREAM!"

He pulled her up and the two went running to the gate. Jason, of course, was leading.

"Jason," she breathed. To her surprise, other campers had already lined up by the gate. They talked to the guy with the ice cream cart as if they knew him fondly. Next to him was a younger girl, around their age, who was wearing a matching pink-colored apron. The man and the teens exchanged the money and ice cream through the hole in the gate.

"Brown should get that hole fixed," Ella said. "How did you even see the truck from all the way over there?"

Jason laughed. Ella was madly in love with is laugh. "I heard of this ice cream cart from Shane. If we didn't find it today, I would've hunted for it some other time." He gave her a goofy grin. "Awesome! They have really weird flavors. Come on, choose one." He led her closer to the gate.

Ella looked at the selections with interest. "I'd like the lemon please—"

"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU JASON! FROM CONNECT 3?"

She grimaced at the loud shout, and clutched Jason's hand possessively. What was she doing? She let go a little bit. She would've given up her grip on him, but it was always a drag to pull away from Jason. Looking up at the screaming girl, she realized that she was the girl wearing the matching apron.

"Dad," she whined, "Why didn't you tell me that Connect 3 buys ice cream from you!?"

The man raised his eyebrows, and shrugged. He gave a hearty laugh and leaned in to whisper, "My daughter's obsessed with you guys."

Jason nodded and laughed.

"I just love you!"

Love? Whoa. Ella glanced around uncomfortably. She was clearly never going to get her lemon ice cream. "That's very kind of you. And this is Ella," Jason said, motioning towards her. The apron-girl looked hastily at Ella. Then she perked up again. "Can I take a picture with you?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

"I can't really say no..." Jason reasoned. Well, it wasn't _impossible _to say 'no.' How were they supposed to take a picture with a fence in between them anyway?

The girl clutched Jason's arm and pulled him closer to the gate. She easily was able to put her head on his shoulder thanks to the hole in the gate, and she took a picture of the two cuddling.

Jason quickly pulled away and smiled. "Please may I get some of your... cinnamon ice cream and the lemon ice cream she asked for? We're going to be late, and I really want to walk my girlfriend to class." Ella couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Your girlfriend?" The girl asked, a little shocked, a little angry. Her father, however, seemed rather happy that Jason was already committed. "Two ice creams for the good man and the lady!" he bellowed.

The girl shoved the lemon ice cream into Ella's hands and sighed. Then she slowly gave Jason his ice cream and a large smile. "Come again, okay?" she drawled. Then she gave another hasty glance at Ella. Rolling her eyes, she walked back over to her father.

...

The couple walked side by side to class. It was hard to hold hands while eating the ice cream.

"So, fan girl." Ella stated.

"You jealous?" Jason asked, staring at her.

"I don't know. You're not _that_ special." Ella joked. She smiled. "I'll try not to get jealous okay?"

Jason nodded, but noticed how Ella kept her head down. He walked a little slower. "There's something wrong, right? Just tell me how to make things okay."

She smiled sadly. "It's not that," she said. "Okay, maybe it is." She paused, digging at her lemon ice cream. "It's just that," she paused once more. Not sure if she should keep talking, she took a deep breath. "It's just that my ex cheated on me. So I don't really trust anyone."

Jason nodded understandingly. It was an awkward moment.

"He cheated on me with...one of my best friends. Well, my ex best friends. My current bet friends are the ones I mentioned before," she rambled. "But they're your fans, and I don't care if they drape all over you..."

"Really?"

"Well, maybe I care a little." She giggled. The two continued walking.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said, "I hate this ice cream." He made a face.

"I think my lemon ice cream is pretty good." She scooped it and fed it to him.

He brightened. "That_ is_ good. Want to trade?" He eagerly eyed her serving of ice cream.

"No way!" she hollered, and ran.

His instinct was the run after her, it was pretty obvious that they were going to be late for class. She wasn't even running in the direction of class. He finally caught up to her, panting. The two collapsed in front of a tall leaning tree. Breathing heavily, they stared at each other, nestled in one another's arms.

"Jason I—"

"Ella I—"

"I love you." They both stated at the same time. Ella's eyes widened in delight. The two locked lips and they stayed there for hours. Every few moments they would kiss.

"I don't think I could live without you," Ella breathed, pressing her lips against his again. She could feel her heart pumping fast.

...

Ella woke up from her nap, she was still sitting under the tree.

"Do you remember which way we came from?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ella inquired. He helped her up and put his arm around her waist.

"We have to get back soon. We kind of missed class. Plus, I think it might rain."

A slight pain rang through Ella's left arm. "Yeah, it probably will rain." She rubbed her arm carefully.

"Are you hurt?" Jason asked, noticing her arm.

"No, I _was_. It healed," she reassured, "but I can tell when it's going to rain now." She grinned at him. "It's a psychic ability," she said, convinced that it was.

Just then, the sound of rain darting downwards was very evident. Ella tugged on Jason's hand, and the two began on their way back. They were walking briskly, ignoring the fact that water was drenching their shoes.

"Wait, Jason," Ella whispered. It was barely audible because of the rain.

He nodded.

"There's something I've always wanted to do. You know, if it was raining, and I was outside..." She mused.

"Yes?" Jason asked, curious. Rain was running down his face.

She tip-toed, and pulled his face down against hers. Their lips collided, and Ella's heart rate soared once more. She felt chills down her back; it could've just been rain-water. She wasn't sure.

...

"'Sup Nate." Shane greeted. He shook off his hair.

"Dude, I just mopped," Nate replied, rolling his eyes.

"Have you seen the lovebirds?" Shane asked dryly.

Nate shrugged. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen them all day. He turned over to his band-member and said,"They're probably kissing in the rain or something."

**AN: More to come! Thank you for the reviews! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Jason and Ella ran back to her cabin. Standing under the awning, she gave him a quick peck and on the cheek before going inside. Jason's arm extended as she pulled away, not wanting to let go of her. She smiled from the door and mouthed "I love you," before turning around. He smiled and stood there silently for a few seconds before turning back to head to his cabin.

"You ditched class today," Tess said accusingly. She raised one eyebrow. "And, I noticed, so did Jason. I bet the two of you were together."

Ella cringed. "_We're in deep trouble._" She looked over at Tess with her wide eyes. "We're in trouble..?" She guessed. Tess smiled slyly before shaking he head.

"You're lucky, I covered for you. I told them that you felt a little sick. I don't know about Jason." Tess sighed. Ella relaxed, "Thank you _so_ much, Tess. Really, you're a true friend."

"Yeah, I know." Tess said, yawning. "Now, you owe me." Huh? Ella laughed nervously. She shrugged, "What do I owe you?"

"Can you actually talk to me? About Jason?" Tess frowned. "It is like you shut me out of your life."

"Oh," Ella said, stunned. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Where were you this afternoon?"

Ella's face brightened. "Making out with Jason." She whispered. "First in the woods, and then in the rain," she admitted blushing. Tess laughed slowly, distracted.

"Anything else you want to know? Oh! Well, he told me that he loved me today."

Tess look up, her eyes flickering. She opened her mouth, and could feel her arms feeling weak. "What are you? Getting married?" Tess snapped. Ella looked back at Tess with shock. "_Oh great, they are, aren't they?_" Tess shook her head, "Nothing else I want to know." She got up and went back to her corner of the cabin. Ella watched as she went, confused. She sat awkwardly on her bed, waiting for Peggy to return. It was pretty obvious that Tess wasn't going to be any fun.

While adding to her music book, Ella heard the sound of a book smacking onto the floor. She jumped, scanning the room for it. She tiredly walks over and picks up the book that Tess was holding before she had fallen asleep. As soon as she touched it, she dropped it as if it bit her. Her eyes were burning as she stared at the open page.

"Dear Diary, I've only met him once. We only exchanged 16 words. I counted those 16. But, I love him. I think I love Jason. It's insane, I know. I've looked him up on the internet, and I know everything about him. I bet I know more about him than his girlfriend, and that's because I love him. But I know that he loves Ella. And I hate me." Ella sunk down to the floor, looking over at the open book, and then at Tess who was sleeping with her arms draped over her pillow. "_She loves Jason? Why? This makes no sense...and I shouldn't be reading her diary._" Ella scurried to her feet, closed the book, and slipped it next to Tess.

Suddenly, Ella's phone began to to ring and buzz loudly at the same time. She quickly runs to get it before the sound would wake Tess up.

"Jason?" She said, feeling her eyes tearing up. She cleared her throat, making sure that her voice wouldn't quiver.

"Hey Ella, I love you." She smiled. "I love you, too. I can't wait to see you again tomorrow."

"You're not busy right?" Ella chuckled, "Nope. Talk to me. I'm feeling a little lonely." She sighed softly. "_So alone. My best friend is keeping secrets from me. Who else is? Jason wouldn't, of course._" Ella froze. "_Jason wouldn't_" She couldn't believe that she was doubting him.

"Jason," she said, interrupting his rant about how Nate wouldn't let him dedicate a song to a cartoon character at some concert. "Yes?" He asked earnestly.  
"Never mind. I love you Jason, and I'll see you first thing in the morning."

...

Ella walked into the cafeteria, looking for her boyfriend. There was a seat next to Tess open, but she was not sure if it was going to be awkward to talk to her. Suddenly, she felt someone hug her from behind. She looked up to see Jason's happy face.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. She smiled, "I guess." his happiness seemed to rub off on her. Taking his hand, she lead him over to the kitchen to get some food. From her side, she could see Tess look up at them, and then quickly glance down. While standing in line, she glanced over at Tess. "_And I was having such a great time with Jason yesterday._" Picking up a plate of eggs, she continued to lead Jason down the assembly line.

"Over here!" Shane hollered. Ella eyed two open seats at the table where Tess was sitting. Nate was at one end, and Shane and Mitchie next to him. Beside Mitchie was Peggy, and Tess. Ella raised both eyebrows before slowly making her way over. "Hi Tess," she said with a smile.

Jason sat at the last open seat, opposite Ella and Tess. "Hey Tess," he said before looking back at his tray. "Shane, I have a feeling that you stole my orange juice."

"What makes you think that?" Shane asked, orange juice dripping down his chin. Mitchie, along with Nate laughed. It was not long before that half of the table was having an animated conversation. Ella secretly peeked over at Tess, who was staring at Jason. She then looked over at Jason, who was cutting his pancakes into different shapes with his spoon.

"Jason, sweetie, I don't think you should use the spoon for that."

"You're right. I should use my fork," he said, completely ignoring the fact that he had a plastic knife on his tray as well. Ella smiled, "Exactly."

"Use your knife." Tess said coldly, rolling her eyes.

Ella looked down, her face flushed. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was hiding from the people that knew her best. Resting her head on her hand, she suddenly realized that she had to _do something_ about the situation. If not, she would continue to have awkward conversations with both her best friend _and _her boyfriend.

"Jason, want to go on a walk?"

"Can I take my pancakes?" Ella nodded. He eagerly got up with his breakfast in his hand. "Bye, guys." Ella breathed, and the two of them walked out hand-in-hand.

"We need to talk about something important."

"Bad important or good important?" Jason asked. "I figured something was up."

"What do you think about Tess?" Ella blurted out. Jason blinked. Tess. Tess? Who was Tess? Suddenly he remembered. "Oh yeah. I talked to her the other day. She's your best friend right? I was just saying to her that the song she sand at final jam was catchy."

"Would you date her?" Ella demanded impatiently.

"What?" Jason asked incredulously. "No! I have you. And that's all I need. Besides, the last time I checked, you're only supposed to date one person. And that one person is you. I love you."

Ella could not help but grin. Tears were coming to her eyes. She hugged him closely. "It's just that she's so pretty and stuff." She mumbled into his shirt.

"Ella," he said softly, putting his arms around her. "Where is this coming from? I never thought that you would be jealous of Tess. You should know that my heart is yours."

This was when Ella began to cry. She sobbed, tugging on Jason's sleeve. "I doubted you, and that's bad." She smiled from behind her tears. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I'm so glad you love me anyway." She hugged him again.

"I am so confused." Jason said. "_This is beginning to feel like playing monopoly with Connect 3._"

"I did something horrible yesterday. I read the diary that Tess keeps." Ella confessed. "It was open on the floor, and I was going to pick it up. But my eyes caught sight of your name."

"Whoa, I'm confused again."

"Tess is in love with you!" Ella stated. She closed her eyes and leaned against Jason.

He stiffened. "I barely said two words to her!"

"I know." Ella whispered, suddenly feeling very small. "I love you." She said at last. "And I will admit that I was afraid that you would choose her over me. And I was scared."

"That would never happen," Jason swore.

"I was mostly scared because I would not know what to do without you. It's like I can't function without your heart or something."

"You'll still have your own," he pointed out.

"Yes, but my own is not enough. I thought it was, but I've never been _this _alive before I met you."

Jason gently bought her face to his and kissed her on her lips. "Ella, it'll all be okay. Because things work out when two people love each other." She smiled, thinking about how romantic he was, until he said, "I think. Right?" He clutched her hands. The two stared at the sky. "Hey, do you want ice cream?"

Ella looked at him bewildered before laughing. She always felt extremely light-hearted and lovesick around him. "No. I feel extremely jealous today. If I see that ice cream girl again, I might get really mad. And anyone else who gives you a second look might get punched in the face by me."

He chuckled, hoping she was joking. She was, or was she?

**AN: I'm not too satisfied with this chapter, but okay. I've started school, so I'm not sure if I'll continue this. I suppose I'll try. Tell me if you want me to continue with the whole Tess love triangle, or to drop it from here? Because, I've still got tons of ideas. (; hopefully I have time to write them! Review, please. :**


	7. Chapter 7

"I haven't seen you all day, Tess." Ella said lightly as she walked into their lit cabin after lunch. Tess was sitting on her bed, listening to music with headphones in her ears. Ella cautiously glanced over, waiting for Tess to respond. She knew Tess could hear her, she always had her music on the lowest volume possible. "Tess?" She felt out of place as the cabin stayed silent.

She could hear the tune of her ring tone and fished her phone out of her bag. "Hello? Jason?" She could feel Tess fix her posture and lean in subtly to listen.

"Hey Ella, I sort of have a problem."

"What is it?" She asked concerned. She rolled her eyes as she realized that Tess was never going to admit the fact that she was eavesdropping.

"Don't get mad. I'm warning you."

"I won't" Ella said uneasily in a sing-song voice.

"Tess asked me to meet her at the jam. Tonight. She wants to talk."

"What?" Ella hissed. She turned so that her back was facing Tess. "What's he saying?" Tess whined softly as she got up and walked over to Ella. "Nothing," Ella mouthed back with a big smile.

"Jason, listen to me."

"I won't go if you don't want me to. You're mad aren't you? I knew you would be mad. But Nate thought that I should warn you. Stupid Nate." She heard the two band mates have a slight argument in the background.

"It's up to you. I trust your judgment." She responded hesitantly.

"But you're mad." He insisted in a scared voice. "No, I would never be." She assured. Her lips curled into a smile. "You know I love you." Tess coughed loudly in the background. "I'll see you in class, Jason."

"What happened?" Tess asked worriedly as Ella shut her phone. Ella shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I'm not even sure," she lied. She pretended to focus on a slight scratch on her phone. "I hate to leave like this, but I have to get to class. I'll say you a seat next to me."

"So I can see you and Jason look at each other. Uhm. I'd rather not." She muttered?

"Huh?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She watched as Tess looks up hurriedly. "Nothing." Her wispy blond hair falls in front of her face and she casually pulls it behind her ears. Tess inhaled, "Are you going to be at the jam?"

The brunette opened her mouth and then closed it again. She brushed her own hair out of her pale face and laughed shrilly. "No, I have to go. Somewhere." She smiled weakly. "_Somewhere? Where? But I definitely __don't__ want to be there when you're confessing your love to Jason._" She continued to smile at her best friend, hoping that Tess would not question it.

"Really? Great. I'll just go and pick up my bag. I left it in the cafeteria." Tess said, pointing to the direction of the cafeteria. She walked away humming and smiling.

"No, Tess, wait—" She saw as Tess jumped in panic and slowly turned around. "_What am I supposed to say now? I read your diary? I'm pissed because you love my boyfriend? I'm smug because my boyfriend doesn't love you? I'm a horrible best friend._"

"Can you find out what we're having for dinner?"

Tess looked at Ella and blinked. "Alright. But I'm going to eat at the jam."

"Yeah, well, I'll be eating alone in the cafeteria then, huh?"

"Oh, right." Tess replied, feeling a twinge of guilt. However, she couldn't help but be a little bit happy when thinking of Ella in the cafeteria eating a cold plate of food while she and Jason were at the jam, dancing and possibly more? Well, that is, if she can get him to admit he liked her. Maybe he did love Ella, but not for long. She laughed a little. "Sure, Ella. Anything for you."

...

"Okay, so we're going to go over some basics because I see some of you struggling."

Ella turned her head and gave Jason a wink. He flushed and smiled back. She turned back and wrote down some notes. Then, with her orange pen, she drew a heart just big enough for Jason to see. "_How fun would it be to go to school with Jason._"

"Now, we're going to take a music assessment. Brown is considering giving some partial scholarships to people who do well on this test."

Ella was barely paying attention. Although the new music instructor was practically yelling, as long as she was thinking about Jason, he was barely audible.

"If you don't have a number two pencil, feel free to get one from our desk."

Jason raised his hand immediately. "Which pencil is number two? I have a pencil, but it might be number three." He was begin serious.

Ella giggled. "Just take one from the front." The teacher said, touching her forehead in exasperation.

"Teachers are so touchy nowadays," Jason said, looking as she passed by. Ella got up retrieved two pencils. She gave one to Jason and then squeezed his hand. "Good luck."

"How about a good luck kiss?" Shane said, leaning across from his desk to Jason's teasingly. He stared at the couple, who were both red with embarrassment. "Go on," Shane urged with a cynical look on his face. "Why not?" Jason said.

"Wait!" Tess practically yelled, jumping in between the two. "Jason, can I use that pencil?" She reached to get it from Jason's hand, pulling her arm across his slowly. "Tess, excuse me, but, I'm trying to kiss Ella here."

"A kiss on the cheek," Ella reasoned. Jason nodded, and turned his face. Just as she was about to kiss him, he turned so that the their lips were touching. She could feel her legs giving out again. "You cheated," she said, laughing.

From behind, Tess laughed in disgust. Shane clapped, and Nate pretended that he did not even see. The teacher began giving out papers. Ella sighed and concentrated on her paper. Maybe she wasn't the smartest person, but she usually knew the answers. Besides, it was multiple choice. She filled in one bubble and then the other. "_The answer is c. I love Jason. I mean—I guess it could be b. Jason looks really cute today_."She finished early, and decided to work on the bubbling in of her test paper.

"We're going to collect papers now," the teacher said in a bored tone. Ella passed up her assessment.

Just then, Ella heard a light thud of a piece of paper landing on her desk. She opened it curiously. In Jason's scrawly handwriting, it read: "Do you like me? Check yes or no." She looked back at him. She checked 'no' before throwing the paper back on her boyfriend's desk.

He looked up in shock. She laughed softly. "I don't like you. I love you, silly."

"Oh," Jason said nodding in realization.

...

There was a rapid and impatient knock on the door of Ella's cabin.

"Yeah?" she said absentmindedly as she opened the door. "Shane?" She asked. He looked pretty down, also pretty angry.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He barely looked up. "Mitchie and I got into an argument. She said I was too angry over it, and I told her never to talk to me again." He stammered.

"Then go apologize!" Ella snapped immediately. She then softened. "Sorry, go on."

"She won't talk to me. She pretends that she thinks I'm talking to someone else every time I approach her. She won't answer my calls. When I went to her cabin, she slammed the door in my face. I tried to sing to her, but when she saw me with my guitar, she just walked away. A-A-And, it was a good song, too. I wrote it as a duet." He sat down.

"A-Are you crying?!" Ella exclaimed, running to grab some tissues. "It's okay." She hugged him and told him to come into the cabin. The two sat in silence for the longest time, then, suddenly, Shane got up and walked over to a random guitar. He picked it up and took out a sheet of paper from his pocket. He then began to play and to sing.

He was right, it was a wonderful song. However, it still came across as a sad song. Shane continued to play during the parts in which he had written for Mitchie. The absence of voice made Ella uneasy. She began to hum softly, and eventually broke out into song. Shane abruptly stopped playing for a second, but then continued.

"I'm not as good as Mitchie," Ella said sheepishly. "But I like the song. You should go sing to her."

"You're not Mitchie," he agreed, "but for a few seconds, I actually forgot about her. This may sound unreasonable, but..no."

"What?" Ella asked. He shook his head.

"Well," he finally said. "Can you sing that song with me at jam?"

"No, I couldn't. That song belongs to you two."

"Please, Ella. Maybe she'll realize I'm singing it for her. I wrote it for her. I need someone to sing the other part with me. Without your voice, it just isn't what I meant for it to be."

Ella was not sure what to say. Every time she was about to speak, nothing came out but a soft cough. "It's a love song." She finally replied, uncomfortably. Shane nodded disappointedly.

"Okay, I might. If." She decided.

"If?"

"You have a car, right?"

**Please review so that I'll know if people are actually interested in reading this story. Thank you! :**


	8. Chapter 8

"Jason," Tess breathed. She flinched as someone pushed pass her.

"Hey," Jason answered nervously. He glanced around helplessly. "Where's Ella?"

"Ella." She whispered, feeling her heart drop. "Of course." Her glassy eyes were brimming with tears. Taking a deep breath, she perked up. "Jason, I'm here to tell you something important."

"What is it, Tess?" She met his gaze, feeling lightheaded by the way his eyes focused on her. Pinching herself, she jumped up, which caused him to take a hesitant step back. "Ella's not here." She blurted. Watching his reaction only made her feel worse. "But I'm going to perform."

"Oh, really?" He asked with a slight smile. She could feel herself melting. It was like she was an ice cube and Jason was the summer sun. "I bet you'll be great." She laughed with pleasure.

"Jason, I." She stopped herself, gripping her right wrist with her left hand. Laughing cautiously, she could feel tears roll down her cheek. "Tess, what's wrong?"

"Jason, I—" She wiped a tear from her face.

...

Ella walked behind Shane, who was desperately trying to find Mitchie. "Damn. Everyone in camp is here, but where is _she_?" Giving him a look, she sharply said, "Shane, tone."

"Sorry," he said, realizing that he probably shouldn't have been yelling at the girl that was going to help him get his girlfriend back. Sighing, he decided to fill in the awkward silence. "Okay, can you hum the tone for me? I'm really nervous," he admitted.

"Okay," she said uneasily. Her voice was barely audible, but it grew louder. It was a soft and delicate voice, unlike Mitchie's. Thinking of Mitchie, he couldn't help but grow even more nervous.

...

"Jason!" Tess finally said, she threw her arms around him, sobbing.

"Tess, seriously. What's wrong?" He stopped, feeling really guilty that he was hugging her. Still, he couldn't possibly let go. "Tess," he said calmly. "Tess, are you trying to tell me that you love me?"

She opened her eyes and let go. "How," she spat, "do you know that? I didn't tell anyone that."

He froze. "Ella. Ella told me."

"Ella _knows_!?" Tess stood there for a really long time, not sure of whether or not to scream. While on one hand, she was mad that Ella had found out, she was really scared.

"Tess, I" he started apologetically.

"Is this a dream?" she muttered to herself. In the background, Ella and Shane were setting up on stage.

"Tess, are you listening?" he asked with a gentle smile. The music began playing, Ella was humming the melody into the microphone.

"I love you Jason, and I know you love me too." She threw her arms around his neck and collided her lips with his.

From behind the stage, Nate caught a glimpse of what was going on. "_That can not be what I think it is._" Without thinking, he pressed the buttons and navigated the spotlight towards the two. The lights on the stage flashed off and the only beam of light was centered around Tess and Jason.

Ella was singing now. Shane watched her as she vocalized, noticing that she sounded even better than she did when they were singing in the cabin.

Just as the lights went out, she looked towards the crowd. Under the only spotlight was Jason; kissing Tess. She immediately yelped. The music stopped as Shane saw what was going on. Ella felt the microphone slip out of her hand, causing a loud screeching sound to come out of the speakers. The whole audience turned to see what was going on.

Hearing the sound of a microphone dropping, Jason snapped back into reality. He quickly drew away from Tess.

Ella was crying violently, but she covered her mouth to try and hide it. Her vision was bleary from the tears and she could feel that her cheeks were red. "Ella," Shane whispered, not sure of what was going to happen. He came over to her side. Ella instinctively took Shane's microphone and threw it on the floor too. Shane pulled her into an embrace. Without thinking, he glared at Jason, bought Ella's chin up and kissed her in front of the whole audience.

She pushed Shane off gently, and ran off the stage, almost tripping. She could feel her tears streaming down her face. She stopped for less than a second to let Jason see her face before turning away. "_This must be what it feels like to have your heart break in half," _Jason realized, clutching at his chest.

...

"Nate," Ella cried softly from behind stage.

"Yeah, Ella?" he said cautiously. He had gotten her a blanket and was sitting backstage with him as the others performed.

"Don't let anyone know that I'm here. Not Mitchie. Not Tess. Not Shane. And definitely not Jason." Nate nodded with a pained look on his face. It was hard to see Ella so crushed. "I'm so STUPID." Ella called out, gasping when she realized how loud she was.

"Shh," Nate soothed. "Ella, what are you talking about?"

"I should have known? Have you _seen_ Tess? She's like a goddess, and I'm just, me. Of course Jason would choose her. He's a rock star. It's like an arranged marriage."

Nate started laughing, trying his best to stop. He looked at Ella, who was glaring at him. If looks could kill, he would be dead by now. "Ella," he said as he finally stopped. "You're 4,000 times prettier than Tess. By far. And I'm not saying that to be nice."

"Shut up, please?" She begged, not even listening. "Falling in love is the most dangerous thing that can happen to you."

"It is," Nate answered dumbly.

"I would know."

...

"Mitchie," Shane called, grabbing her wrist.

She hurled around and pushed him back. Sighing, she said, "I know that you wanted to apologize. But it's all messed up now." She began walking away.

"Mitchie..." She paused again. The two both stood there, 4 feet apart from one another. They could hear the crickets singing, as well as the music from the jam.

"If you think that I'm blind and that I didn't see you kiss Ella, then you're just insane." she finally breathed. "You've got one minute to explain yourself," she demanded, her voice cracking.

"You know that I've dated a lot of girls in the past." He started. She scoffed and waved a hand in the air. "You're not helping the cause at all."

"No," he stammered. "What I mean is that I—"

"_Do you love me Shane?_" she thought, her eyes questioning him. The stars reflects against her eyes and he stared into them. "_It's three words, Shane. Just say it. Jason said them to Ella._" He stopped himself and cringed, thinking about the events that occurred just an hour ago. "_They said they loved each other. But what happened tonight?_" He looked over at Mitchie. All of a sudden, he had forgotten what he was going to say.

"Shane?" she asked, expectantly. Her eyes were smiling although her lips stayed still.

"I love you," he said, quickly drawing her into a hug. "I love you too," she replied, her voice muffled. He drew her into a kiss.

No, something did not feel right. But those three words are not something easy to take back.

**AN: So... Shane & Mitchie are back together. Who will Jason end up with? Is Ella ever going to forgive Jason? Or forget him? & what about Shane? Keep reading! & reviewing, please. 3**


	9. Chapter 9

"Ella," Shane said happily. He sat down and was about to give her a kiss on the cheek when her head turned. Their lips met, and she quickly pushed him away. He blushed, not liking the loss of breath he had. "Ella, I want to thank you. Mitchie and I are back together."

"Well, Jason and I...aren't." She said flatly. "And honestly, I'm sort of mad at you you. What was that on stage yesterday?" She said with a raised eyebrow.

"That was.." he started, "acting," he confessed. However, he felt as if he was lying, and it pained him to let those words come out of his mouth. "Well, I'm pretty miffed about your acting. But... you're the only one I know with a car."

"Jason has a car," Shane pointed out. "And it's really cool, you see, it's red."

Ella closed her eyes, brushing off the feeling.

"Oh, sorry. Was that insensitive?" She nodded, her face flushed. "_But not for the reason you think._"

"I need you to take me here." She shoved a card into his hands. They were in Connect 3's cabin. Ella gracefully waltzed over to the drawer in which Shane's keys were in. She raised one eyebrow. "I really hope you don't mind leaving campus. It's against the rules."

"Pshh. Breaking-the-rules is my middle name."

"Yeah, okay." Ella said. She tossed him the keys. "Let's go."

"Hey, this is a business card to a therapist. You go to therapy?" he asked.

"You need therapy, too," she snapped. She sighed and flashed him an apologetic smile. She yawned and flounced out the door. She turned back and waved her hand, gesturing for him to hurry up. "I _really_ need to go to therapy." she said. He stood there, confused. He wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

"_I love this girl._" He stopped. "_No, I don't. I love Mitchie._"

...

"We're here." Shane said.

"Finally. Gosh, you drive slow." She said with a smirk. "_Thank goodness he drives slow._" she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she got out of Shane's slick black car. "I've got to give you credit. You take good care of your car, Gray."

"Well, I love it more than I love Mitchie," he joked. "_But not more than I love you._" He slapped himself across the forehead. "What's wrong?" Ella asked, applying her lipstick. He needed to get out. Fast. "Ella, I'm sorry."

"You're what?" she asked, looking up. "I thought I could do this, but I can't I have to go."

"You have to what?" she asked. "I have to go," he slurred, getting back in the car.

She tapped on the window and he rolled it down. Every time he looked at her, he thought less and less of Mitchie. But no, he loved Mitchie. And he wasn't going to make the mistake that Jason did.

"I'll take the bus back, then." Ella said, stunned. She put her hands up in the air and turned away. However, she looked over and gave him a little wave to let him know it was okay.

He pretended not see and quickly drove away.

...

Ella picked up her back and pushed her hair behind her ears. "Thanks Dr. Miller," she said, walking out of the office. It was pretty chilly, and she wished that she bought a sweater with her. The streets were empty and the sky was a dark blue color. She could hear some rowdy people from the bar across the street.

It had been a half an hour and no bus had passed by. She stared intently at the well constructed buildings down on the next block. They were all identical. "_Birdhouses._" The word slipped into her mind and out of her mouth. She winced and glanced down at her phone to check the clock. The screen burst into life as she pressed a button. It had been exactly 2 minutes. She had been able to stop thinking about Jason for 2 minutes. "_The longest two minutes of my entire life."_

"I have to do this."

...

Jason let his head drop down to his arms, which were laying lifelessly on the table. "I've messed this up. So bad."

"Tell me about it," Nate agreed, opening a bottle of soda.

"You just had to shine the spotlight on us," Jason said accusingly.

"I think she would've noticed you making out with her best friend anyway." Nate retorted, slapping his friend on the back of her head. "By far, Jason, this is the absolute dumbest thing that you have ever done." He took a sip of his soda. "And Shane, too."

"Shane?" Jason asked, feeling rage and envy spreading throughout his blood. "You mean kissing my girlfriend? Uh. Yeah. It was."

"Not only that, but he went off campus to drive her somewhere."

"What? Why?"

"Because he has a car," Nate replied vaguely, shrugging.

"I have a car!" Jason said, jumping up.

Nate nodded sympathetically. "Jason," he reminded as his friend sat back down. "She's mad at you. Why would she ask you to drive her somewhere?"

Jason's cell phone began to ring. Both of the boys looked at it incredulously. Ella's name was blinking on the screen. Jason looked up at the ceiling and mouthed, "Thank You!" Nate nudged him and urged him to open the phone. "Hurry, before she hangs up."

"Ella?" She sighed happily, glad to hear his voice again. She blinked, not letting any tears come out. Sitting alone on the bench in front of the bus stop, she whispered, "Yeah. I have something to say."

"Look, first of all. I'm _really, really, REALLY, _sorry about what happened yesterday. Things just got out of control."

She winced. "I'm glad you bought that up," she lied. She took a deep breath, shivering in the cold. "Jason, about us. It's." she stopped. "_It's over isn't it?" _she thought.

"Uh oh," Jason mouthed. Nate raised one eyebrow. "Awkward silence," he whispered. "Ella, where are you? I'll come drive you back. Please, just. Just let me drive you back here."

"I can't," she whined lamely. She felt like a lost dog. "The last time this happened. It just did not work out."

"Last time? Ella, I don't have any clue what you're talking about. But, I rarely understand what _anyone's _talking about. Please, let me drive you back."

She took a sharp intake of a breath. "Get the address from Shane, and be here soon." She stood up and began pacing. "I love you," she added without thinking before hanging up. She shut her phone before realizing it. "But it's true. I do love you," she spoke, as if he were standing right next to her.

...

Jason stood there with his phone still next to his ear as the line went dead. "She loves me," he said to Nate, who looked at him with a shocked face. "Seriously? After yesterday?"

Shane walked into the cabin. He came face to face with Jason, who gave him a cold look. "Jason, I told Mitchie I love her, but..." he stopped to see Jason's reaction.

"Oh, really? Good. I thought you were going to try and steal my girlfriend," Jason said. "I'm going to go pick her up. She said that you have the address?"

"Yeah," Shane muttered weakly. He took out the business card and handed it to Jason. However, it took a few tries before Jason could actually jerk it free from Shane's grip.

"SHE LOVES ME!" Jason called out gleefully as he left the cabin.

"She what?" Shane said, his eyes burning with passion.

"Shane, you're creeping me out." Nate admitted. Then he smiled, "Ella told Jason she still loved him. Look at how happy he is," Nate pointed out. The two of them looked out the window and saw Jason excitedly running. "Wonderful," Shane spat.


	10. Chapter 10

"Of course! Ella read my diary!" Tess decided. She had found out that Ella knew all about her crush on Jason—even though Tess had been careful not to let a single person know. She replayed the events of the previous night in her mind. Ever since she met Jason, she thought that if she could kiss him, she would just be completely happy.

Tess had been so caught up in the moment. Of course, she had envisioned it a thousand times. She should have known that you can't rehearse something like that. She remembered how the moment that she put her arms around Jason, he pushed her back. Instead of backing away, she had pulled him into a kiss that barely lasted 3 seconds before Ella had seen them. These three seconds did not help Jason realize that he loved Tess. No, he realized that his relationship with Ella was now on the rocks. "_If anything, he would never choose me over Ella. The only reason he would ever date me would be if Ella left. Forever._" He surely hated Tess.

The sound of the someone pounding the screen of the cabin door awoke Tess from her thoughts. She got up and opened the door, afraid that it was Ella. Yet, somewhere deep within her heart, she was hoping that it was someone to rescue her. Preferably Jason.

It wasn't Jason. "Oh. It's you guys." Tess said dryly. "What do you want?"

"We were looking for Ella, is she back yet?" Nate said. Shane yawned as if he was bored. Tess took in Shane's good looks. He would be her second choice. "No, she's not."

"Stupid Jason. Imagine if the two got lost," Shane said in a concerned tone. Tess was taken by surprise. "Why does everyone care so much about Ella?"

"Why does Ella care so much about Jason?" Shane mumbled bitterly. "It's not like he cares about her."

Her eyes began to well up. She glared angrily at the two boys. Standing there, she waited for them to say something. Instead, Nate stared at her blankly and Shane was rolling his eyes. She scoffed, wondering why they weren't leaving."Just go away." She took a deep breath and gave a dissatisfied grunt. "_Nobody cares about me. Only Ella. Ella this. Ella that!_" She threw her hands up in an exasperated manner. She slammed the door, but Nate stopped it from closing.

"You have no right to dislike Ella," Shane responded out of nowhere. He was staring in Tess' direction, but was not really even looking at her.

"No right?" Tess snapped. "Everyone thinks that she's perfect! So I kissed Jason. And he pushed me away. I manage not to be swayed, and for three seconds I am happy. Then, everyone sees us kissing and Ella crying. All of the sudden, I'm the bad guy." She said, her voice trailing off.

"You _are _the bad guy. Did you see her face? It's pretty desperate that you planned a kiss with your best friend's boyfriend," Shane said with raised eyebrows. He began snickering.

"Well, So what?! What's done is done. I know Jason doesn't like me. You don't have to rub it in." She stopped and took another deep breath. "If it means that you'll leave me alone, okay, I'll say it. I threw myself at him."

She twisted a lock of her hair and ignored the two boys. "Let's go," Nate mumbled, pulling Shane away.

Shane followed Nate and did not say a work. He kicked rocks in his path. "Tess is really pretty," Shane commented, waiting for Nate to respond. "What's your point?" He asked suspiciously. "You don't...like Tess do you?" He asked, with his eyes wide. Glancing around, he began to ramble. "Of course. You've been acting pretty weird lately."

"I _don't _like Tess." Shane said in disgust.

"Well, that's right. Because you love Mitchie," Nate said, relieved. Shane stared at the ground, his footsteps matching Nate's. The two walked in silence.

"But. Hey," Shane said, giving Nate a light slap on the elbow. "Why doesn't Jason like Tess? I mean, she's pretty."

"And kind of a bitch." Nate added. He laughed a little and shrugged. Shane narrowed his eyes and stared at the ground. "Jason loves Ella." Nate said quietly, staring ahead of him and thinking. Shane stopped walking. Noticing this, Nate turned around and gave Shane a look. Something was wrong.

"Yes?" Nate asked, gesturing for Shane to spit it out. "Nate," Shane said looking up. "I think. No, I know, that I love Ella." He stood there, staring at Shane with a stricken face. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I LOVE ELLA." Shane said, feeling full of life as he got it off his chest.

"You what?"

The two looked up, recognizing Mitchie's voice. They turned around and faced her. Shane gave her a helpless look. She stood there, holding two little cups of ice cream. Her face held mixed expressions. Her eyes grew large and glassy, but she was angry. "Mitchie, I'm so sorry," Shane said, not knowing if those were the right words.

Mitchie looked down at the ice cream in her hands. She debated whether or not to put it down and slap him. "You jerk," she finally said, hurling the ice cream in her left hand at the left side of his face. The cub smacked against his cheek and ice cream went in his ear, on his hair, and crept down his shirt.

"You deserve it," Nate said, watching as Mitchie stormed away.

Shane gave Nate a cold look and tried his best to shake the ice cream off his hair. It dripped, and his locks swept back and forth.

"Shane," Nate said seriously. "If you love Ella, then you need to forget about her."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Shane replied, reaching for the ice cream on the back of his neck and swiping it off. "I love her, and I'm going to tell her."

"No, you're not."

"Shut up, Nate. You're not going to tell me what I'm going to do," he said, glancing sideways at his friend. "But she loves Jason. And you can't change that. It would be best if she didn't know."

"So I just don't tell her about my feelings?"

"Because she'll never like you back. No matter how much you love her. It doesn't work that way, Shane."

"Yeah, right." Shane said laughing darkly. He wiped off his sleeves. "I'm not just going to sit here and let my heart break over Ella and let her stay with Jason."

"Why not? It's what she wants." Nate said. He took a deep breath and began walking again. "Besides." He started, "I did."

...

Ella looked at Jason's car with wide eyes. It was a shiny red and sparkled even in the dark. "No." she said at last, her voice hollow. "I'm not letting you drive me back. Not in that."

"What's wrong?" Jason said. There was a soft hum of other cars driving past them.

"Nothing," she insisted. She closed her eyes. The car looked exactly the same as Trent's. She recognized the headlights and the shiny finish. She remembered the loud sound it made as the windows crashed. How scary the bright red color turned when ambulance lights flashed upon it.

"Ella, you're trembling." He reached over, but she jumped back, realizing for the first time that she had tears running down her face. She quickly wiped them away despite the fact that she couldn't stop crying. He reached over and gave her a hug. She leaned against him, closing her eyes and trying to forget.

...

"You're safe." Jason said. She opened her eyes. They were in a coffee shop, she gripped her beverage tightly in her hand, feeling numb. Sighing, she looked over at his confused face. "You want to know what's wrong?" She gently asked.

"You can tell me anything." He insisted, and she tried her best to smile.

"Well, I went to therapy today." He nodded. "You probably don't know why I go to therapy."

She explained to him slowly. Retelling the stories of that night.

_Ella sat silently as the rest of the party started getting wild. She coughed, knowing that she shouldn't have come to the party when she was sick. Stumbling over the crowd of people, she drowsily tried to find Trent. Seeing a flash of his hair in the montage of people, she quickly walked over to him, dodging drinks and snacks in her neighbors' hands. "Trent," she coughed._

_He looked up like a deer caught in headlights. Everyone got quiet. She looked around confused, smiling because the silence was getting pretty awkward. "Trent. Can you please drive me home.?" He smiled weakly, and began leading Ella to the door. Some guys started hooting as they left._

_"Wait," she pulled his arm back. "You haven't been drinking have you?"_

_"No way. Have you?" She raised one eyebrow a vigorously shook her head, feeling another cough coming on. He lead her to the car and opened the door for her, closing it after she got in._

"Who's Trent?" She looked at him uneasily. "My ex." she said at last. He nodded.

_"Trent, you're driving really fast. Too fast." He shrugged like he couldn't understand her. Besides, the sound of the wind rushing by made it hard to hear anyway. She coughed, feeling her seat jerk forward. All of a sudden, she couldn't see, she screamed. The glass crackled and made a high pitched sound as they broke. She could feel the breath knocked out of her. Staying still, she did not want to move._

_The first thing she saw as a wall. Why she was so close to one, she was not sure. There were lights. Everywhere, there was glass. The aching in her arm would not leave her alone. "Trent." she called. Where was he? Was he hurt? She couldn't remember what just happened._

_"Tell me what happened," she pleaded to the closest hospital worker in white. The lights soon grew brighter, they were inside now. "Honey," the lady said with a deep accent. "We need to know your phone number. Can you give us that?"_

_She weakly recited it. "What happened to Trent?" She demanded. "The boy with you in the car?" the lady asked uneasily. "He's over there."_

_With all her effort, Ella turned, hoping he was okay. Of course he was, unscathed. He sat in the hospital lobby making out with her best friend. "Sweetheart. Please, lean back. The car crashed into a wall. Did you know that your friend over there was under the influence of alcohol?" From there, she closed her eyes and did not remember much about the rest of the night, except for the heartbreak, and the tears as she got stitches and x-rays._

Jason studied Ella as she finished the story. Sniffling, she took a sip of her drink. "He got us into an accident, and he left me there." She said, terrified. "You guys. Have the same car."

His knuckles turned white. He held Ella close, but was burning with fury. "It's okay, Ella."

She stared at him, her eyes threatening to tear. "No, it's not. Don't you see Jason? This is a sign. An omen, even. You two have the same car."

"No, it's not," Jason said, shaking his head, pleading with his eyes. They could not end it like this. "Ella, we love each other."

"I used to love Trent," she said, her mouth quivering.

"But I love you." This was when she started crying, her tears dripping into her beverage.

"Jason, I'll always love you. And you'll love me. But I don't know if we should go out."

"Ella, please." He put his hands over hers.

She gave him a weak smile. "Let's be friends. Jason, you're my best friend." The words seemed to burn. "No, please, Ella." She wiped away a last tear.

"Jason," she said. "We can walk away now, and never talk to each other again. But I don't want to let it happen." She stood up helplessly. "Please, don't go."

"I'll never desert you, Ella." he said, his heart aching. "And I'll be your best friend," he couldn't meet her gaze. "But I'll never stop loving you. And I want you to know that. If you can stand knowing that your best friend is in love with you..." he cringed. "Then, okay."

She grinned for the first time and threw her arms around him. "I really want to kiss you," she said, "but best friends don't do that." He nodded sadly. "I love you, Ella," he whispered.

**AN: So. Jason & Ella break up. Shane & Mitchie break up. & what is this with Nate? Hmm. Please review for faster updates. (:**


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note: Hey, I have not updated in months, but hopefully, you guys are still interested in the story. Reviews are greatly appreciated, & will motivate me to continue. Thanks!**

Ella woke up the next morning completely lost. She stretched before opening her eyes. When she saw three faces looking back at her she shrieked. "What?" she asked out loud.

Nate started chuckling, "Good morning, Ella," he said casually before walking off. He placed his hand on Shane's shoulder and tried to get him to stop hovering over Ella, but Shane shrugged him off.

"Bad idea," Nate mouthed before turning on his heel and leaving.

"And…what am I doing here, you guys?" she asked, yawning. She cautiously put her hands on her face, wondering why here eyes felt so swollen.

"You didn't want to go back to your cabin because of Tess. And then you fell asleep as before you told me where you wanted me to drop you off. So I carried you here." Jason said, retelling the whole story with hand gestures as if it were an epic adventure.

"Oh," she said, still confused. "Thanks, bestest buddy," she said, giving him the widest, sweetest smile that she could muster up so early in the morning. Resting her head on her chin, she mumbled, "I still don't want to go back to the cabin."

Jason was barely listening, the way she had called him "buddy" was still ringing in his ears like a taunt.

"Lets give the girl some alone time, huh?" Shane said, leading Jason away. Jason shot Shane a glare and took the offensive. He dragged Shane to the corner.

"What is wrong with you Shane?"

"Me? You kissed Tess," Shane shot back.

"Tess is single. You kissed my girlfriend," Jason retorted. Shane looked apologetic for a second, but then laughed it off. He shrugged. "Why would you kiss Tess if you have a girlfriend?"

"Guys…" Ella said, her voice trailing off. She scoffed before placing a hand on her forehead. "I can hear you." She sat up and looked over in their direction. Both guys gave her their undivided attention, and while she didn't notice, Nate could tell that they both staring at her longingly.

"I think you two should stop fighting," she said quietly. "And you're both wrong." She turned to look at Shane, who noticeably brightened when he noticed that he had her full attention. He straightened up before she reprimanded him, "Shane, why the hell did you just leave me there yesterday?"

Shane looked to the floor, his posture returning to the way it was before. Jason scoffed at him, feeling a bit guilty that he was so happy over the fact that Ella was mad at him.

"And Jason," she said, cringing. "It's going to take me a while to get over the whole you-and-Tess thing. I just thought I'd let you know." She could feel her cheeks getting warm, but her eyes were dry. "Hmm. No more tears left," she mused, laughing a bit at herself. "Now would probably be a good time to tell you guys," she added, "that me and Jason broke up." She looked over at him apologetically, but was relieved when he managed to give her a weak smile.

"Shane," Nate warned, lowering his voice to the point where it was almost inaudible.

"Because who says I need to date right now?" Ella continued, shifting her weight. With a fake smile plastered on her face, she laughed once more, ignoring the looks from the three band members. Raising her hand to rub her forehead, she sighed. "All I need is some best-buddies…"

"We'll be there for you," Nate said, earning a frown from Shane, who nodded in agreement.

"But I get to be your best-best-friend, right Ella?" Jason asked, kneeling down to take her hand. She could not help but awkwardly pull away. "Of course, Jason," she said at last, giving him a half-hug. It was uncomfortable since she was on the edge of the couch and he was kneeling on the floor, but Jason did not complain.

"Speaking of which," Shane continued, interrupting their hug with his loud voice, "Me and Mitchie broke up."

"Mitchie and I," Nate corrected.

"Nate? You dated Mitchie? Since when?" Jason demanded in all seriousness. His three friends laughed, all relieved that the mood had lightened.

"Poor you, Shane," Ella said pouting, she got up and gave him a hug, which he gladly accepted. As she pulled away, she could not help but realize that Shane was still attached to her, breathing her in.

"Shane…" she said, and he pulled away. "Guys," she said, looking up at them, "I need to go to the cabin. I have to confront Tess sometime, you know."

"Want us to come with?" Jason asked.

"It's okay. No need to make the situation worse." She said with a chuckle, however, her face showed that she was clearly in agony. She got up and left quietly, making sure not to slam the door on her way out.

Jason watched her leave before slowly going over to his bed. Shane watched Jason before turning to the door. "Where are you going, Shane?" Nate asked.

Shane craned his neck to make sure Jason could not hear him before saying, "This must be hard for Ella. So her best-best-best friend, or future boyfriend, Shane, will be there for her the whole time," he said defiantly before leaving, cocking his eyebrow and laughing on his way out.


	12. Chapter 12

Shane trotted behind Ella, careful to keep his distance. He chuckled to himself when he realized that he was basically following her. Whenever she looked like she was about to turn around, Shane's heart literally stopped. He was unsure of whether to join her or to hide. However, she never turned fully around long enough to notice him.

As Ella made her way closer to the cabin, she stopped. Shane quickly walked over to the nearby tree, hoping that his behavior did not seem to suspicious. As he nonchalantly watched her from afar, he panicked when he realized she was walking over to the tree. Heart pounding, he scanned the area, it was completely bare.

"There's only one tree in this whole field? How dumb is that," he muttered to himself.

"Shane," Ella called in a sing-song voice, he was a bit uneasy at the fact that he had been caught, but was easily distracted by her sad face.

"Shane, I know you're there," she repeated. She took a few steps to get closer to him before slumping down and sitting against the tree. She pulled out her tattered phone and greeted Shane with a smile before dialing.

"Jason?" she said, her face instantly brightening. Shane said nothing, hoping that she could not feel the blood rushing through him at a hundred miles per hour. Some could say that Shane had a bit of an anger problem, and that he got jealous pretty easily. "But I'd change all that for Ella," he whispered to himself. He looked over at her, taking in her dark hair and her fair face, which was, at that moment, scrunched up with disgust.

"Jason," she said, "I chickened out." She laughed and switched her phone so that it was in her right hand now. "You know what would make me feel better?"

"What?" Jason said through the phone.

"What?" Shane said at the same time, extremely eager to please.

She looked over at Shane and laughed leaning her head against his neck. "Really, Jason? You're the best!" She hung up her phone and jumped up at once, causing her wince and double over in pain.

"Ella! Are you alright? Say something," Shane said, her voice rising.

"I'm fine. Just my arm, it's going to rain today." She said, trying her best to fake a pleasant smile. She shook out her arm, making sure to mask any feelings of pain. "Let's get back to the cabin. Jason's going to take me to get some ice cream." She excitedly grabbed Shane's arm and led him halfway there. Remember the lemon ice cream she had last time, a genuine, undying smile spread across her face, and her eyes practically filled with tears. Ella could not tell why she was getting so emotional over two scoops of lemon ice cream, but she wouldn't trade this new feeling of euphoria for anything else.

____________________________________

"Ella?" Jason asked in his softest voice. He glanced over at her lovingly and got close enough to smell her shampoo. He carefully gathered all of the ice cream to the corner of his cup.

"Yes Jason?" she asked, secretly loving how she could feel his breath on her.

"That ice cream girl wasn't there today…" he said jokingly, nudging her gently.

She looked up at him and blinked before giggling. "Trust me Jason, if she was there and tried to make another move on you, I swear--" she stopped to make a gesture with her fist before giving Jason a little smile and edging closer to him.

He could barely catch his breath before she continued, "but seriously, Jason, you're going to have to be a bit more subtle that that."

"What?" Jason said with a chuckle, avoiding her gaze.

"You just want to hear me say that." She laughed, "So I might as well add on that, Jason…"

He looked over at her, her eyes were fixed on his.

"I still like you Jason," she said, and then coyly began to run.

With a laugh, he ran after her, however, was shocked when she stopped abruptly and dropped her ice cream. She clutched her arm and hid her face from his gaze.

"Ella!" he called worriedly, making his way to her and lifting her up in his arms so that she was sitting against him. He held her hand, "Are you okay?"

She whimpered, relieved when the pain subsided. "I dropped my lemon ice cream. I love that stuff. Can't live without it," she said, trying to avoid allowing Jason to worry about her.

"Well, then, Ella, you're my lemon ice cream."

She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck. "That was so corny."

_______________________________

"Jason, really, I don't need to go to the doctor," Ella insisted.

"I can't help but worry," he said skeptically, holding her hands.

For the first time, Ella realized that they were walking hand in hand. She stopped and took away her hand, instantly regretting it. He paused and turned to face her, searching her eyes for any hint as to why she didn't want to go.

Her pupils were locked on his face, and she remained frozen. "It's fear," he thought to himself, not believing that he would allow her to be so scared.

"Ella, I have a surprise for you. I know you don't want to be in my car." He used all his effort to slowly lead her to the parking lot. Her face visibly relaxed when she saw no intensely-bright red cars in sight.

"Guess which car is mine?" He whispered in her ear, holding her close.

"There's only one car, Jason," she pointed out. The car was midnight blue with black leather seats. "It kind of looks like yours, but a different color. And those things hanging on the mirror look like the nail polishes I left in your cabin…." She stopped, not sure of what to say or do. Turning to him, she took one look at his face and realized what he had done.

She dived forward to hug him and shrieked with happiness into his chest. "You painted your car for me?" she said, crying.

"Don't cry, Ella," He urged, wiping away her tears as he hugged her close.

"But how? It was still red yesterday."

"It helps to be a rock star," Jason said, grinning with pleasure. "Ella," he started, serious now, "Will you let me drive you to the doctor? You know that I care about you. And I don't care if it takes us hours to get there. I promise that I won't let anything happen. I'll drive slow."

She opened her mouth but did not know what to say.

"But if you don't want to, we can walk. I will hold an umbrella in case it rains. I will carry you there, even, if you want."

"But Jason," she protested, only to be stopped by Jason, who pressed his fingers lightly on her lips.

"Because, I love you Ella, and I would do anything to prove it."

"I'll….let you drive me, if we can go somewhere for fun, first." she said, bargaining with him. Jason's anxious expression did not budge. "Ella, I don't think we should delay the doctor's visit."

"Jason," she pleaded, intertwining her fingers with his. He sighed, and finally gave in. "I'd do anything to make you happy," he whispered, and led her to the car.

"I'll remember this forever," she whispered back to him, bringing her face close to his, but quickly pulled away, amazed at how drawn to him she was.

_______________________________

"Jason, please say something," she said after a few minutes of driving.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I'm trying to be the best driver right now, Ella," he vowed.

"Jason, I trust you." She sat back, letting herself relax. "See? I'm not even clinging on to the seat like I was yesterday."

Shaking his head, he pulled over and turned off the engine. "Ella, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

She laughed nervously, "Jason, you care too much about me, I'm just a girl who is not even your girlfriend."

He frowned as she reminded him of this and sighed. "Before I continue to drive, I have to get something off my chest." With that, he leaned dangerously close to her and caught her lips with his, running hand down the side of her face. The two separated, and Ella took a deep breath. She did not think before pulling him closer to her and kissing him again, slowly.

"We need to stop," she admitted, leaning back again, cautiously glancing over at Jason.

"Anything you say, Ella," he said, staring at her. "As long as I know that I have your heart, nothing can bring me down." He said, plugging the key back in order to start the car. "Unless, you get hurt," he added.

"You have my heart," she said, closing her eyes. "Don't disappear from me, Jason, ever."


	13. Chapter 13

"What kind of doctor is closed weekends?" Jason angrily muttered for the fifth time, causing Shane to laugh. Shane glanced over at Ella, who seemed to be pretty cheery despite the fact that there was an icepack on her arm.

"Shhhh," Nate said, gesturing at the board game. The group of four friends were playing the game LIFE, each one controlling their own car-shaped game piece filled with tiny plastic figures that were supposed to represent themselves.

"My, my, mini Shane, you sure are hot," Shane joked, talking to his game piece. He successfully got a chuckle out of Ella. It was her turn and she spun the wheel.

"Yes! Landed on an eight," she said giddily clapping her hands. She carefully picked up her own piece and moved it along, she was taken aback when she landed on a bright-red portion of the board game. "It says, 'get married,' and then I can spin again," she read out loud. Smiling deviously, she reached over the board and pick up Jason's car.

"You can't do that," Nate protested in a low voice. He stopped complaining when he saw what she was doing. She picked up Jason's figurine and placed it in her car next to her own. "Now we're married," she said to Jason.

Shane raised an eyebrow, horrified to see Ella lean in towards Jason. She quickly gave him a soft kiss on the lips, stunning not only Jason but the other two band members in the room.

"Whoa, Ella." Nate said. He sighed, "Can we get back to the game?"

She laughed at his impatience as Shane glared at Jason, spinning the wheel which slowly stopped at three. She made a big show of moving her car three places over before turning back to Jason. "Want a divorce yet?" she asked, pouting.

"Never." He said, gazing at her as he put his hands over her.

"Playing with you guys is impossible," Nate muttered, slapping himself on the forehead.

"You're just jealous you have nobody to marry," Shane suddenly replied, clearly bitter.

"Neither do you, Grey." Nate retorted.

It took over an hour for someone to finally win the game. Shane punched his fists into the air as he collected the plastic-prizes that he earned from being the first to enter retirement. He waved them in front of Nate's face and stuck his tongue out at Jason.

"Too bad you'll die alone, Shane," Nate snapped, glancing over at the board game to see if he could still beat Jason and Ella.

"What's up with you two tonight?" Ella asked, leaning on the table and shifting her ice pack.

"I could say the same for you two," Shane said accusingly, shooting a look at Jason but then trying his best to smile at Ella.

"So much for not dating," Nate said unenthusiastically before taking his turn at the game.

"I didn't realize that this was my fault," she started apologetically, reaching over to grab Nate's hand with her left hand and Shane's with her right.

"Oh, it's not your fault. Clearly, the one at fault here is Jason," Shane said, looking around innocently.

She was about to protest when Jason stopped her. "Sorry. I could keep myself of her." Shane scowled at the comment.

"I still like him, you guys," she explained, not understanding the tension in the room. "We're just not ready for a relationship right now."

"I'll do anything in my power to win your trust back, Ella," Jason said.

Shane pretended to throw up. "Honestly, I don't believe you guys. I mean, I saw you kiss before."

Ella gave Jason's hand a squeeze before getting up and leaning over. She gave Shane a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now," she said, turning back to Jason, "let's finish this game."

He nodded, fighting the jealously that he had of Shane by giving Ella a kiss on her cheek, which she happily accepted.

"You have my trust already, Jason," she said to him as she spun the wheel again. "Two places until retirement! Nate, I think we've got you beat."

"No way, I just have to spin a 6 and I win instantly," he noted, reaching for the wheel.

Just then, Ella's phone went off. She rolled her eyes in annoyance before she got up to retrieve it.

"What the hell? How did you get my number?" She demanded, causing Nate, Shane, and Jason to look up with worry. She glanced over at them and let her phone drop to the floor. "It's Trent," she said, a tear falling from her eyes. Closing her eyes, she hugged the person closest to her.

Shane stiffened but then softened when it finally hit him that her arms were wrapped around him and not Jason. "Who's Trent?" he mouthed.

Jason looked over at Ella who was crying, fighting his urge to cut between her and Shane. She looked up and tried to conceal her shock when she realized that she had been hugging Shane. Ella could have sworn that it was Jason who had been holding her this whole time.

"He's coming here." She said.

"Why? When?" Jason demanded, his fists clenched.

"At the very end of camp." She sighed, "Help me," she cried, hugging Nate this time. The three of them all uttered comforting words to her.

"I love you guys," she said, sniffling, not knowing that these words absolutely made their day.


End file.
